


sketch me a future with your lips

by BeatrizCaelum



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: JEITH FANS I'M SORRY THIS IS MORE SHEITH THAN ANYTHING ELSE, M/M, and for the folks like me who love sheith but enjoy jeith... here's a good meal, keith and james do make out so feel free to read the first half, pidge breaks the fourth wall and asks if they're inside a bad fanfic, this is a hot mess i am so sorry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-13
Updated: 2018-12-13
Packaged: 2019-09-17 07:45:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,678
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16970610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BeatrizCaelum/pseuds/BeatrizCaelum
Summary: In which Keith and James make up, then make out, then stay as friends. Shiro isn’t thrilled at the beginning, not quite, but a messy confession of devotion makes everything okay again."'I’ve got you.' His whisper is feather-like, but it must be enough, because Griffin nods, even if just as imperceptibly. In a detached, almost out-of-body way, Keith feels proud of himself, of the way he is capable of grounding the other man. Like a leader would. Like Shiro would.Shiro, who is currently looking as if he’s the one who got caught making out in the meeting room like a horny teenager."





	sketch me a future with your lips

**Author's Note:**

> So my longest contribution to this fandom so far is this hot mess. Proceed with caution.

 

“What are _you_ doing here?”

Keith does not mean to sound as pissed off as he does, but he is too worn-out for manners or even just common courtesy. And the man he is being rude to is James Griffin, so, then again, maybe he has an excuse, as pitiable and too lost in the past as it is.

Griffin purses his lips. “Good morning, Kogane.”

“Good morning,” Keith grunts despite himself, moving away from the door.

“I have orders to leave some papers here,” he shrugs from his place near the giant table. “For your Voltron meeting.”

“Hm. Thanks, I… guess…” He trails off, crossing his arms.

Griffin merely snorts in response, occupying himself with his task. Keith doesn’t mean to stare, he really, really doesn’t, but there’s nothing more interesting to do other than watch the man’s hand moving across the table, laying down some documents he’s too tired to recognize. The jerk – if Keith can still think of him as such – got handsome, which is entertaining, sure, but also equally unfair. It’s nothing compared to the heavenly beauty that Shiro has always been, but still. It makes him quiver on the inside, just a little, and maybe the guy grew out of being a bully too, so _maybe_ he should apologize for being rude.

“You got here early,” Griffin interrupts his thoughts.

“Well, I’m trying to be more – uh, Leader-like.”

“You haven’t been their Leader for long,” it oscillates between a question and an affirmation.

“Shiro,” it’s all Keith answers. As usual.

“What happened, then?”

“Everything happened.” He sighs. “I had to step in as the pilot of the Black Lion.”

“You were always – _passionate_ about flying. Sometimes too much.”

They lock eyes and just then Keith realizes how stiff Griffin is, as if holding back from something. He sounds upset, but conversational. He wants more, Keith is sure, but not so sure about _what_ he might want more of.

“Listen,” he breathes, “I know we had a – a bad moment in the past and I’d like to… I don’t know. Make peace?” _Way to sound like a third-grader, Kogane._

Griffin’s eyes dart to the door for a second. “It was a long time ago.”

“Yeah, but I like to know where I stand with you.”

“You used to make me so mad,” a soft, tiny laugh makes its way out of his lips.

“Uh… You, too?”

“I mean,” he shakes his head, “I gave everything I had to exceed and such a troublemaker, tiny kid still got to be better – so much better – than I could ever dream of.”

“I’m not sure if I’m mad at you or flattered,” Keith frowns.

“You can be both. I don’t really care.”

“I do. I – I think. I’m working on the ‘how to be friends with people’ thing.” It’s more vulnerability than he is usually willing to show, but he needs to come as clear as he can with his past back there in the Garrison. All of it, even the parts he wish he could not remember – the whispers about his parents, his skills, his temper, his bond with Shiro.

“Friends?” Griffin echoes. “I was an asshole to you.”

“We were young. I wasn’t an angel, either.”

“Alright. We can be… something.” Griffin winces at his own choice of words.

“Yeah,” he snorts. “ _Something_ sounds just fine.”

Keith takes a few steps closer and offers a hand. His answer is firm handshake.

But Griffin doesn’t let go.

He’s now looking at Keith with a spark dancing in his irises that he hasn’t ever seen before. It’s mischievous, but there’s no venom, no bite to it, nothing particularly unpleasant, so Keith doesn’t break his grasp. They are closer than Keith remembers to have approached himself, which, again, isn’t that bad. As uneven as someone’s heartbeat can go without meaning cardiac arrest, he stands there, too absorbed in what must be the weirdest moment of his already-too-weird life to touch the silence for a few seconds.

“What is it?” He dares to whisper.

“It’s stupid,” Griffin bites the inside of his cheek and now that Keith’s attention is on his mouth, they are both far too gone and they _know it._

“What is stupid?” He presses.

“When you were gone – after the Kerberos fiasco… I still thought of you. Sometimes.”  Griffin visibly swallows.  “I’m not sure why. But I do have a few guesses and one of them is a stupid, giant crush that I’m not that trilled to have.”

“Ah,” it’s all he manages. His lack of coherent response doesn’t seem to intimidate Griffin, who only gets closer.

“So. I kind of want to try something. To make sure, at least.”

“I’m in love with Shiro,” Keith blurts out, because, really, what else is he supposed to do?

Griffin only smirks. “That’s not new.”

“What?” He pants. “You – you know?”

“I know. The entire Garrison knows. Everyone and their mother know, except Shi- Captain Shirogane himself. Talk about having a thing for boring clichés.”

“I…” He tries. “I’m…  I feel dumb. Geez.”

Griffin sounds a little too fond when he says: “Shut up, Kogane.”

“Make me,” Keith says as a reflex.

“Exactly my plan.”

And that’s all the warning he gets.

Griffin pulls him in in a rough, demanding clash of lips, tongues and breathes too out of sync. A dizziness that has Keith’s body trembling blinds him for one, two, three seconds that are enough for him to regain control of his movements to move his hand to the back of Griffin’s head.

Keith knows, even if he’s too into it right now, that this is more of a spur-of-the moment thing than anything else. He has a feeling Griffin knows it, too, because after the explosion that consumed them both at the first few seconds of making out, all that remains from both parts are movements that speak of luxury, curiosity, wanting, but not care, not devotion – not _love._

Keith takes what he can get, and then it’s over.

“So, yeah,” Griffin gasps when they part. “Just a crush.”

“That was… I’m bad with words.”

“You are,” he agrees way too easily for Keith’s taste.

“You… you okay?” He has to check. Sure, he has only been friends – _something_ with Griffin for the last four or five minutes, and they already managed to spice it up a little, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t care about the guy’s feelings.

“Sure,” he shrugs. “You’re infuriatingly hot, but that’s pretty much it. Attraction. I’m good.”

“Good,” Keith echoes, feeling his cheeks heat up.

“Also,” he snorts, “I’m really, really glad that’s pretty much it, because _I don’t_ want to get on Captain Shirogane’s bad side.”

“What?” He frowns. “Shiro doesn’t – he doesn’t see me that way.”

“I think you guys went a little overboard with the whole boring cliché thing.” He rolls his eyes. “You’re as pretty as you are _dense_.”

“Shut up,” he growls.

“Make me?” Griffin smirks. “A second round wouldn’t hurt.”

It wouldn’t. And it doesn’t.

 _This isn’t right, this isn’t right_ , Keith’s last functional brain cell agonizes, assaulting him with images of _Shiro_ doing to him exactly what Griffin is doing with his tongue right now, to which the rest of him answers: _too turned on to care._

Of course, that’s when the door opens. With everyone outside. What else?

“Mullet, holy shit–”

Without thinking, Keith reaches for Griffin’s nearest hand — his fleeting hand that quivers midair as he stumbles away from Keith as if he is electrified. He grabs it firmly and grunts a quiet _James_ to catch the pilot’s attention. They lock eyes and Keith puts so much emotion in one single look that it tires him out for a second, his war-tinted body suddenly too small to carry both his defiant posture and Griffin’s embarrassment.

“I’ve got you.” His whisper is feather-like, but it must be enough, because Griffin nods, even if just as imperceptibly. In a detached, almost out-of-body way, Keith feels proud of himself, of the way he is capable of grounding the other man. Like a leader would. Like Shiro would.

Shiro, who is currently looking as if _he’s_ the one who got caught making out in the meeting room like a horny teenager.

It is a funny look – wide eyes fluctuating between looking at Keith and Griffin’s intertwined hands and staring aimless into space as if he can’t remember his own name, pretty mouth hanging open, thick eyebrows raised up. But it’s not right. That’s not how it was supposed to go. He recomposes himself rather quickly, then, expression growing blank. There is a hardness to his jaw, though, that Keith can only remember seeing in moments of sheer distress.

“Welp,” Hunk gulps. “ _That_ was unexpected.”

“There are better places to –”

Pidge’s remark is lost at the sound of Lance’s obnoxious whistling.

“Way to go, Team Leader!” He comes closer, slapping Keith’s shoulder and shoving Griffin slightly. “So _this_ what you do when we think you’re all by yourself brooding.”

“It’s not,” Keith starts, “I mean – it _is_ what it looks like, but – but – we aren’t – ”

_So much for ‘I’ve got you.’_

“Humans never cease to surprise me,” Coran then has the audacity to turn to Allura and offer her what he _thinks_ is a whisper, but echoes loudly in the room just as anything else would and never, never should, “I must admit I thought Keith was dating Shiro all this time.”

“Anyway,” Shiro clears his throat, “if Cadet Griffin would be so _kind_ , we have a Paladin-only meeting to attend.”

A heavy silence envelops the room.

“Geez, Shiro,” Lance wheezes, “if you’re using _that_ tone, you might as well just tell him to fuck off.”

“O-of course, Captain. Sir.” Griffin manages a salute and to look in Shiro’s eyes, which is braver than anything anyone is doing currently in the room.

“I’ll talk to you later,” Keith promises as he watches him take some steps towards the door. “I want to…”

“Keith,” Shiro all but growls, “please keep your private business _private._ That’s enough… display for one day.”

“Yes, sir.” He hasn’t said that in a long, long time, and he thinks he sees Shiro’s ears redden a bit at the words. Huh. _Interesting._ “Captain.”

“This whole situation is ridiculous,” Allura crosses her arms as soon as Griffin leaves the room. “You two need to sort things out. Once and for all.”

“We can’t take much more of that insufferable pinning of yours,” Pidge sighs. “What even was that we just interrupted? What is this? A bad fanfic?”

“What?” Keith asks faintly.

“Not to be intrusive,” Hunk coughs, “but Shiro is pretty mad right now. So. Yeah. Sort things out.”

“I am _not_ upset,” Shiro says, very, very upset. “This has nothing to do with me – or you guys, for that matter. It’s Keith’s personal life.”

“And James’,” Lance adds. _God._

“Yes,” Shiro spits out, “and Cadet Griffin’s. _Thank_ _you,_ Lance.”

“No problem,” he says, about to take a seat when Allura grabs his writs and his brain visibly stops working. “ _Allura?”_

“We can do the meeting later,” she decides, taking Coran’s wrist with her other hand and gesturing them both towards the door. Pidge follows and then Hunk, giving them one last, apprehensive look before exiting. No one pays attention to Shiro’s attempt to stop them.

The door closing meets them with a tiny _bump_ and then there’s only a palpable sort of awkwardness.

“Shiro, I –“

“I’m sorry,” there’s a long sigh as Shiro’s broad shoulders drop. He crosses his arms in a way that looks more like a hug – a strange, almost sad one, with the giant Altean arm not really fitting anywhere. “I shouldn’t have lashed out at you or... him. You do whatever you want to do. Always.”

There’s so much Keith wants to ask. He runs through his options and settles for the safest one he finds.

“Are you mad at me?” He bites his lower lip. “For not being professional enough?“

“W-what are you,” Shiro stammers, “what – _no_. No, Keith, that’s not it.”

“I know as the Leader of Voltron I shouldn’t use a common room in the Garrison to…” He trails off. “That wasn’t okay for me to do. I know it.”

_“Keith.”_

He keeps clinging to that line of thought, because everything else is a little too scary to deal with.

“I won’t disappoint you again.”

“You didn’t – I mean, I am disappointed, I guess, but that’s my fault.” There’s a bitterness to his laugh that has Keith stepping closer out of instinct.  “Not yours. Never yours.”

“How is anything your fault?”

“I had some… expectations. “ He makes a vague gesture with his human hand. “Of you.”

“As a Leader.”

“As something more.” Shiro’s whole body trembles with sharp intake of breath. “I wanted – want to be _with_ you.  But apparently I’m too late.”

“ _Shiro_ ,” is what Keith thinks he says, because he might as well be just gaping like a fish out of the water or another equally uninteresting metaphor. “You want to _what_.”

“You don’t have to say anything,” he closes his eyes. “Really. It’s fine.”

“ _Shiro. Listen to me.”_ And suddenly Keith is frantic, both too brave and too afraid. He grabs Shiro’s shoulder so hard his hands burn just as much as the rest of him. “You’re the one I want to be with, too. I’ve wanted you for so long I can’t barely remember when it started, but I never thought – I never thought I’d have a chance, with Adam, and then Kerberos, and then the Galra, and everything that’s happening with the War– and I sort of grew used to it and for _fuck’s sake_ , Shiro, if I could choose I’d be kissing _your_ mouth and not anyone else’s.”

Shiro’s wobbly laugh makes his words fade out, and he realizes that his face is wet, which is funny, and sad, and maybe Shiro is also crying under the hands that now are covering his face as he searches for his breath.

“You like be back,” the words roll out his tongue as if they had been waiting to get out for too long. They’re a bit broken, his voice, his eyes, his heart, but it’s what Shiro has to offer and Keith wants it all.

“I love you,” Keith corrects him with a smile. “You’re everything to me.”

There’s no need for a warning this time, because they meet halfway.

That’s them, Keith realizes as Shiro’s lips, warm, soft and a bit shaky, sketch an entire future with his own. That’s them, always moving towards each other – may it be silently, may it be with loud footsteps that echo trough the most unknown of the galaxies, but always drawn to one another.

The kiss has some friends: traveling hands that find a new home in tuffs of soft hair, arms, abs, hips; a chest-to-chest forest fire; a rhythm strong enough to pull them to the table’s direction;  a few bites; more than a few moans and, finally, finally, Shiro’s _love you too’s_ , trailing Keith’s sharp jaw and his neck, going further down as they make up for the time that has been lost.

When Keith’s back hits the hardness of the table, Shiro’s lips ghosts over the hems of his pants.

 “I’m a bit out of practice,” he pants.

“Doesn’t look like it,” Keith smirks.

“There’s _so much_ I want to talk about with you,” he kisses whatever piece of exposed skin he can find near Keith’s abdomen.  “I’m _serious_ about all this. About you. About us.”

“So I am,” he promises.

“ _Griffin_ and anyone else with second intentions can get the hell away from you,” Shiro’s low snarl melts into something softer. “I’m yours as long as you want me to be.”

“Does ‘all my life’ sound okay to you?”

Shiro’s answer, whatever it might be, who knows, chokes on the noise Keith does as the zipper of his pants is brought all the way down and no, there’s no Voltron conference happening here today, thank you very much.

**Author's Note:**

> Don't worry. James ends up dating Ryan.
> 
> I had so much fun writing this I couldn't stop. Sheith is my everything, but oh boy, Jeith is also very good, thanks. So yeah. I think Keith totally would make out with people if he feels like he has no chance with Shiro... which, actually, now that I think of it, totally contradicts my OTHER headcanon that Keith is demisexual. Oh well. It's too late now.  
> As you can see, I'm stress-writing as season 8 approaches fast. I need to cope somehow. I'm also posting this late at night so I'll only see people complaining about this mess when I wake up.  
> Also, Enlgish is not my first language. If I made any mistakes, please tell me so I can fix them. "This whole fic is a mistake" is not a valid answer.  
> COME TO MY TWITTER TALK SHEITH TO ME AND PANIC OVER SEASON 8! I'm ametista_bruta. And holyhikari on tumblr.
> 
> https://twitter.com/ametista_bruta


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